Mr Shah is the second senior separatist leader after chief of Peoples League Sheikh Abdul Aziz, to join the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat Conference (HC) during the past two weeks.

He later addressed a joint press conference at Idgah, where more than 550 martyrs, including Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq and Peoples Conference (PC) founder chairman Abdul Gani Lone have been laid to rest during the past 17 years.

Mr Shah, who left the HC following differences with the then leadership in the nineties, said the Hurriyat leadership will visit all parts of the state, including Jammu and Ladakh, to seek support from the people belonging to all walks of life.

He also announced that Hurriyat offices will be opened in all parts of the state, including district and tehsil headquarters.

Lauding Mr Shah's role for his unity effort, Mirwaiz Omar said: ''we welcome Mr Shah in the amalgam. The amalgam was not new for him and it was returning home,'' he added.

Mirwaiz appealed to the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) to rejoin the amalgam.